“The committee is particularly interested in programs that get students together with professional filmmakers. We don’t think there is a better way to excite students about making films than to have them learn at the hands of actual filmmakers.”

Grants allocated by the Acad for 2000-2001 include: $25,000, American Film Institute directing workshop for women; $20,000, Film Arts Foundation (S.F.), digital filmmaking training; $20,000, North Carolina School of the Arts visiting filmmakers.

In addition, $15,000 internship prizes were bestowed upon California Institute of the Arts, UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, U. of North Carolina, USC School of Cinema and USC master of professional writing program. And $15,000 was granted to UC Santa Cruz’s Satyajit Ray workbook preservation program.